LINE-UP

ALTRINCHAM FC LADIES: Lizzie Brereton, Tallulah Anton, Louise Edleston, Sam Briggs, Heather Scott, Rachael Philip, Elina Parker, Gail Simpso, Georgia Plant, Aimee Gibson, Cloe Allsop. Substitutes: Becci Hailes, Beth Crellin, Hayley Macardy & Caroline Moran.

REPORT

Report courtesy of Phil Taylor.

The Ladies took the motorway to Wallasey to play their second League fixture of the season, taking on a Wallasey Wanderers team which narrowly missed out on promotion to the North West Regional League last Season.

Alty, with a number of the squad unavailable and also missing Manager Keith Edleston due to a prior commitment, lined up in a 3-5-2 formation. Lizzie in goal, with a back three of Tallulah, Louise and Sam, and Heather, Elina, Rachael, Gail and Georgia across midfield, the attacking threat being offered by Cloe and Aimee.

Altrincham kicked off on a bright and sunny afternoon and immediately tried to impose their particular brand of attacking football, moving the ball around with pace and purpose. The game was being played on a big pitch, which would hopefully suit the passing style of play which both teams are known for trying to play, although on a number of occasions, some quite vital, the length of the grass frustrated those attempts.

Able to quickly settle, after four minutes a through ball from Tallulah found its way to Aimee who shot just wide.

The Alty Ladies were having much the better of the game and, on thirteen minutes, Sam put Cloe through on goal. She got a shot off which was cleanly gathered by the home keeper at her near post.

Three minutes later, Altrincham took the lead. A spell of pressure resulted in a corner, which was floated into the area by Aimee. The ball appeared to come off the head of a defender and was heading toward goal when another home defender touched it over the bar.

Referee Ms Quilty seemingly adjudged that the ball had not been going into goal, merely cautioning the defender in addition to awarding the penalty. Cloe stepped forward and confidently converted the opportunity to make the score 1-0 to Altrincham.

It took only three more minutes for the lead to be doubled when Cloe fed Aimee through the middle. Despite the efforts of more than one defender, Aimee showed commendable strength to finish clinically.

On twenty eight minutes, it could easily have been three. Tallulah ventured up field and met a corner but her effort was cleared off the line.

Altrincham were demonstrating a clear superiority and applying lots of pressure to the home defence whilst the defensive unit, with Heather, Gail and Elina operating just in front, was comfortably dealing with whatever was being thrown at them.

On thirty six minutes, Aimee had a shot blocked and, from the resultant corner, a good ball in from the right by Rachael was headed just wide by Georgia on the far post. Rachael and Georgia had caused problems out wide for the home team throughout the game and it was as a consequence of pressure down the flanks that Cloe was able to get a shot away on thirty-eight minutes, which was well saved by the busy Wallasey custodian.

The Altrincham superiority was not really reflected in the scoreline, that is until the forty second minute, when an excellent flick on by Elina once again released Aimee who finished effectively, lobbing the goalkeeper from outside the penalty area.

Half Time was reached with Altrincham holding a well deserved 3-0 lead. Although clearly happy with the score and also the performance, conversation at half time revolved around doing the same sort of things in the second half, not becoming complacent and, if possible, making more use of the space available, on what was a big pitch, to play the sort of football which had been so productive in the first half.

Wallasey kicked off the second half but Altrincham soon regained both the ball and the momentum. In fact, it took only three minutes of the second half for Cloe to extend the lead to 4-0, finishing very adroitly with a firm shot at the near post, following good play down the Alty right.

Five minutes after this, Lizzie was forced into an excellent one on one save when the Alty defence was opened up by a ball over the top. Lizzie stayed big as the striker bore down on goal before sticking out a foot to deflect her fierce shot away from goal.

Unfortunately though, Lizzie was not so lucky in the fifty-fourth minute. Another long ball seemed to be running through for her to collect on the edge of the area. It is unclear whether there was a foul by the striker or whether she handballed it away from Lizzie before going on to finish. Ms Quilty, who had perhaps been caught out by the speed of the play and was therefore some way away from play however decided, despite loud protests, that Lizzie had just dropped the ball and allowed the goal to stand.

4-1 became 4-2 on the hour mark. Having conceded a corner it seemed that the Alty defence momentarily switched off, allowing the short corner to be excellently chipped over Lizzie into the far corner of the net.

Perhaps a little stung by these two goals, the Altrincham Ladies regathered themselves and, once again, began to apply pressure. No more so than, on the sixty second minute, when Aimee, having rounded the goalie, saw her shot cleared off the line, the ball falling to Cloe, who was similarly thwarted by excellent and committed defending.

This didn’t deter the Alty players though and, on sixty-five minutes, Cloe chased a ball played over the defence before finishing well from a very acute angle. In scoring what was her third goal of the game, Cloe sustained a blow to the ribs and was withdrawn for a while to allow her to recover.

Becci had by this time come on and was operating very effectively on the right flank and on sixty-five minutes her excellent delivery from the right presented an opportunity for Aimee, who finished adroitly to also register her hat trick.

Altrincham had, by this point, utilised all their substitutions and every player had made a positive contribution.

Beth had taken on the role just in front of a back three, which now included Caroline, and Hayley was operating down, firstly, the right and, latterly, the left flanks. On seventy-seven minutes, incisive play by Gail released Georgia on the left flank who, from outside the area, clipped an excellent shot over the home keeper and into the far corner of the net to make the score 7-2.

Two minutes later, roles were reversed, Georgia playing in Hayley who moved forward purposefully and fired a firm shot at goal, which was turned around the near post for a corner. At this point, Alty seemed to be home and dry with Wallasey not able to cause very much in the way of problems. Sadly though, on eighty two minutes, having received a backpass, Lizzie seemed to underhit the return, which was seized upon by an alert home striker who made the score 7-3.

Despite a bewildering eight minutes of stoppage time being played there was no further action of any great import and the game ended Wallasey Wanderers 3 Altrincham 7.

The Management Player of the Match was Elina who had responsibly knitted the midfield together and, in collaboration with her colleagues, controlled the central third. Players' Player went to Aimee.

Clearly a four-goal win is an excellent outcome, even better when achieved against as good a team as Wallasey and there were a number of excellent performances this afternoon. The team’s propensity to leak avoidable goals is perhaps the only slight concern to come out of the game.

Next Sunday, the Ladies entertain Crewe at Mersey Valley. This should hopefully be a good game as both teams try to play attractive passing football. All spectators are welcome for a 2pm kick-Off.